When It comes to admiring the master's art, I not only study the paintings but I like to get inside the artist's mind. What inspired them to paint their subject? Who were they? What were they thinking. Oh, if I could have been a fly on the wall during those times.

Have you heard of the artist Jan van Eyck? He was born before 1395 and died before July 1441 in Bruges. He was a Netherlandish painter who perfected the new developed technique of oil painting. I thought of him because I not only love details in my artwork but symbolism.

Today there are twenty paintings attributed to him. He was a master of portraiture. He painted everything, he knew how to manipulate oils and was meticulous with his attention to detail. He applied layers of thin translucent glazes to create intensity of color and tone.

Which leads me to one of his most famous works “Arnolfini Portrait, 1434." Many call it a wedding portrait, but art historians say that this was a portrait of a couple and that the wife died in childbirth. There are a lot of stories going around about this piece, but nonetheless it’s a very intriguing piece of art.

This portrait in particular is all about wealth. In the mirror there are two people coming into the room. If you really study this piece you can see scenes from the passion of Christ painted on the back panels. The dog was a common symbol in portraits of couples because it’s a symbol of fidelity. The one candle on the chandelier signifying the presence of God.

The fruit was a symbol of their wealth, since it was one of the items that was imported and expensive. The bulge in the lady’s dress is the expression of the fashion of the day, not that she was pregnant.

He manipulated light and colors by using light glazes, so that each color was transparent and translucent. 

With today’s technologies using infrared reflectography, you can see the artist’s meticulous underdrawing for the work giving us a wonderful insight into his mind, and the planning stages of his work.